Rotary inking ribbon tube



' Sept. 27, 1960 ROTARY INKING RIBBON TUBE Original Filed Feb. 2. 1956M. v. JOHNSON, JR, ET AL 7 Sheets- Sheet 1 I?! 1 16]) .//21 9' 12; 4 125I 20 45 442%5. .,f@ J53 7 L9 2- 2 Illll|lII lllilllllllllllllllllllI! a;4: lllllllIIIllllllllllflllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll I IlllfllI]IIII l lllllllllllllllllllllUllll[IIIEI IJIBIIIEIIIEllllll E 'Iumlmu!I1||milI!|||||lllllllllIll!|||Illllullllllllllllllllllllllz llll lll ll'lL ll IN V EN TORS.

M. v. JOHNSON, JR., ET AL 2,953,987

Sept. 27, 1960 ROTARY INKING RIBBON TUBE Original Filed Feb. 2. 1956 '7Sheets-Sheet 2 Se t. 27, 1960 M. v. JOHNSON, JR, ET AL ,95 ,987

ROTARY INKING RIBBON TUBEY Original Filed Feb. 2. 1956 v 7Sheets-$119915 3 a aw Sept. 27, 1960 M. v. JOHNSON, JR, ET AL ROTARYINKING RIBBON TUBE Original Filed Feb. 2. 1956 7 Sheets- Sheet 4INVENTORS, MfiVP/CE v, Jam 50 .T/P. y Jay/410 c. 54 mat Sept. 27, 1960Original Filed Feb. 2. 1956 M. V. JOHNSON, JR, ET AL ROTARY INKINGRIBBON TUBE 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 mmm P 1960 M. JOHNSON, JR., ETAL 2,953,987

ROTARY INKING RIBBON TUBE 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Original Filed Feb. 2. 1956INVENTORS,

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ROTARY INKING RIBBON TUBE Original Filed Feb. 2. 1956 7 Sheets-Sheet 710/7/91 0 .519 VHGE' rates amt Fice

ROTARY INKING RIBBON TUBE Maurice V. Johnson, (in, Upland, and Donald C.Savage, Ontario, Calif., assignors to Sunkist Growers, Inc., LosAngeles, Calif., a corporation of California 'Original application Feb.2, 1956, Ser. No. 563,045.

Divided and this-application Sept. 15, 1958, Ser. No. 761,054

1 Claim. (Cl. 101-336) This invention relates to printing machines moreparticularly to a machine especially capable of printing citrus fruit,eggs, apples, cantaloupes, nuts, potatoes, avocados, tomatoes and othersubstantially cross sectionally circular objects.

This is a divisional application of our copending applicationSerial No.63 ;045, filed February 2, 1956, entitled manufacture which haveasubstantially circular cross section.

While many fruit andvegetable stampers or mar kers have been proposed,the printing of lemons with trademarks has not yet been accomplishedcommercially and there is not yet known a machine which Willsatisfactorily serve this ftmction. The obovate to ellipsoidal form ofthe lemon renders it necessary to orient the fruit so that in passingthrough the printing assembly the smoothest, most gently rounded surfaceof the fruit-ispresented to the printing die. If the fruit is'contactedby the die at either itsstem or blossom end, his evident that atrueimpression of the indicia will not "be obtained. In addition to theproblems resulting from the shape of the lemon, further problems arecreated by their large variation in size. The diameter of an averagelemon is about 2%; inches but this varies from as little or less than 1/2 inches to as much as 3% inches or more, consequently a printingmachine Will not successfully print lemons which'have not beenpreviously classified as to sizeunless it is capable of properlyfunctioning overat'least this size range. that lemons grow in thePacific coastal areas and in other areas having cooler climates, whichaccount fora large percentage of the lemon production of the UnitedStates, lack resiliency and have an irregular relatively stilfinflexible peel easily subject to damage by bruising. Thesecharacteristics make it impossible to rely upon compression of the fruititself to compensate for variation in size from fruit to fruit, whichwould be required if the support to die distance were fixed andunyielding. Irrespective of the size of fruit passing through theprinting assembly, it is essential that there be a firm but not severecontact between every part of the die and thelemon at the time ofprinting. If the contact isnot firmenough the indicia will not beclearly printed upon the lemon, while if it is too firm, the die mayrupture the peel and possibly inoculate it with mold spores or bacteriaor in any event render the fruit subject to future inoculation.

Among the further and important objects of our invention are toprovide-a printing machine having: an improved conveyor capable oforienting and aligning fru ts, vegetables or other ellipsoidally shapedarticles so that their long axesare parallel to theaxes of the rollers;a rotating and-reciprocating tube about-which'a renewable inking ribbonis continuously fed;' a rotary printing drum -on-which dies are flexiblymounted to permit firm but? yielding "contactwit-h thearticlesto'be'pn'nted;and -a rotary platenhaving spokes to assist theconveyor rollers in supporting fruit as it is printed.

These and further objects of our inventionwill become apparent from aconsideration of the drawings in which:

Figure l is a plan view of our printingmachine with parts broken-awayfor clarity;

Figure 2 is anelevation showing the right'jhand side of our machine;

'Figure 3 is -asectional View taken on line -33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a view, partly in section, taken on 1ine-4-4 eof Figure 3;

FigureS'is a view taken on line 5-5 of Figure l with parts shown'insection;

Figure 6-is an elevationshowing the left handside of our machine; partof the conveyor'being omitted;

Figure 7 is a full cross sectional view of our ribbon tube taken on line77 of Figure 9;

Figure" 8 -is.a section-showing our inking roller and cam face assemblytaken on line-8--8'of Figure 1;

Figure 9 is a-partial longitudinal section of our inking ribbon tubetaken substantially on line 9-9 of Fig The problem is furthercompounded'by the fact ure 1.

The-stub shafts 11 and '12 rotatably mounted in the bearings 7 aresecured-to-the ribbon tube by circular end plates 67 (Figure 9). Theribbon tube assembly consists of a semicylindn'cal member 68 attached ateitherend -to the end plates '67-and the semicylindrical member=69attached to the-member 68 through hinge'70 I and the-lock mechanism 71(Figure7)- which consistsof a lock plate 72 attached to-the tube 69 withsuitable cap -screws'73. -The-loek plate is securable to semicylindrioalmember 68 by flat'headscrews'74.

'At each end of theinking ribbon tube is a ribbon drive gear assembly 75(Figure9) which drives shaft 76 on "whichribborr take-up spools 77 aredetachably-mounted -for rotation-therewith. -This shaft extends from thedrive .gear'assemblyto the" mid-point of the ribbon'tube assembly whereit is supported for rotational'and longitudinal motion-upon a bracket,notshown. This shaft is provided-in its'end with a slot 78which-receives-a -mating tongue-79 extending axially from shaft "80 0fgear 81,-thereby connecting the shaft 'to gear assembly 75. Shaft "76 isalternately squareand round in cross section to permit-quick insertion:of ribbon take-up spools 77 upon the square shaft portions SZand quickretraction of them-toa freely rotatable position upon the roundportions-83 thereof. This shaft isdetachably supported inalignment withthe gear assembly by the bearing brackets 84 secured to thesemicylindrical member 69by screws 85. vEach of these brackets has aslot at oneend, the Width of which is equal to the diameter of annularshaft grooves 86. The slot extends inwardly. to 21v circularbearingportion. .Retaining. brackets 87 .are secured tothe tube byscrews 88 and are each provided with a U-shaped opening of suflicientwidth to receive the shaft. These brackets do not support the shaft butsimply retain the take-up spools in a fixed longitudinal position withrespect to-the inking tube. It will be evident that theshaft is readilydetachable by simply moving it longitudinally until-annularsgr0oves86arein alignmentv with the slots in bearingbrackets'84and then lifting it out of contact-withthe -brackets. Thiscouldaccidentally-resultfrom Vibration .during. operation of the machineand, therefore, lock plates '89, having semicircular openings in oneend, are

provided to engage and be retained in annular grooves Patented Sept;27,- 1960 90 formed in the shaft. The semicircular lock plate opening 91is narrower than the diameter 92 of the annular groove, thus insuringretention of the lock plate upon the shaft. This lock plate which isreadily detachable is spaced adjacent to one of the brackets 87 toprevent shaft 76 from being accidentally withdrawn from engagement withthe shaft 80.

Feed spool brackets 93, having U-shaped openings 94 coinciding in sizewith the diameter of feed spools 95, are secured to the inner surface ofthe inking tube so that the axis of spools resting in said brackets arediametrically opposed and parallel to the axis of shaft 76 and take-upspools 77.

These brackets have retaining clips 98, secured thereto by means of capscrews 97, arranged to engage grooves in the feed spools to retain thelatter in position. A leaf spring 99 is secured to the end of each feedspool and presses against one of a pair of ribbon aligning plates 100mounted internally of said brackets upon each feed spool, thus providingfrictional resistance to the unwinding of the spool.

As illustrated in Figures 3 and 7 inking ribbon 96 is withdrawn from thefeed spool 95, inserted through ribbon feed slot 101 (Figure 3) boundedby curved fiat clips 102 secured to semicylindrical members 68 and 69 oneither side of said slot to provide a smooth guide surface for theribbon edges, wound about the ribbon tube in a clockwise direction,inserted back through slot 101 and attached to take-up spool 77. Asshaft 76 rotates in a clockwise directionas shown in Figure 7, theinking ribbon 96 is drawn over the outer surface of the ribbon tube andwound upon spool 77, thus constantly renewing the inking ribbon whichcontacts the dies 45. When the ribbon is completely used, the spools areremoved from the ribbon tube assembly and new ribbon is installed.

As shown in Figure 8, the ri bon tube is slotted at 103 adjacent to andinteriorly of each of the end plates 67. A pawl actuating member 104extends through the slot and is mounted upon a stub shaft 105 secured tothe end plate and is provided with a cam roller 106 rotatably mountedupon a pin 107 at its outermost end. The pawl actuating member 104 has acam roller arm 108, a spring arm 109 and an intermediate section 110.The cam roller arm is urged against a stop pin 111, secured to the endplate 67 by means of a tension spring 112, which is attached to a pin113 on the end plate 67 and to spring arm 109. A pawl 115 is pivotallymounted on the intermediate section 110 by means of pivot 114. One endof pawl 115 is maintained in contact with a ratchet wheel 116 by meansof a spring 117 secured to the stop pin 111 and to the other end of thepawl. A stop pawl 118, one end of which is maintained in contact withthe ratchet 116 by tension spring 119 secured to the other end of thepawl and to pin 113, restrains the ratchet Wheel against reverserotation.

Member 120 is attached to side frames 9 and supports a transverse angleiron 123 to which a cam assembly 121 is bolted. The cam assembly 121includes an arcuately shaped body member 122 having a flange 124 whichsupports cam 126 on pivot 125. This cam is extendable or retractablewith respect to the path of movement of cam roller 106 by swinging itabout pivot 125 by means of a lever 127, mounted upon pivot 128 andhaving a thumb screw 129 adapted to secure the lever to arcuate bodymember 122 at varying positions to hold the cam in the selectedposition.

In the representation of Figure 8 the inking ribbon tube rotates in thedirection of the arrow 130. The cam assmbly 121 is mounted at a distancefrom the inking ribbon tube that will permit movement of the cam 126 topositions varying from that at which the cam roller will not contact itto positions where the cam roller will be so contacted as to result inthe maximum travel of cam roller arm 108. Inasmuch as the extent ofmovement of ratchet wheel 116 depends upon the extent of movement of arm108, it will be seen that by adjusting cam 126 any desired rate ofribbon feed may be selected. As illustrated, the lever 127 is secured toarcuate body portion 122 by the thumb screw 129 at the position whichwill result in rotation of the ratchet 116 a total distance of one toothby the pawl and the pawl actuator arm 104.

As shown in Figure 9 the ratchet wheel 116 is mounted for rotation upona journal portion 131 of the shaft 132 of gear 133 secured to the endplate 67 by cap screw 134 and set screw 135. Gear 133 is adjacent togear 81 and the former is journaled at 136 to permit free rotation ofgear 81. A planetary gear 137, engaging both gears 81 and 133, isretained in mesh with each of these gears by being rotatably secured toratchet 116 and an annular alignment plate 139 by a pin 138. This plateis free to rotate upon hub 140 of gear 81. The ratchet 116 and thealignment plate 139 are further maintained in alignment and securedtogether by dowel pins and by bolts 141.

When the inking tube assembly is rotated in the direction of the arrow130 of Figure 8 upon the shafts 11 and 12, the cam roller arm willcontact the cam once each revolution and will be impelled tangentiallyin a counterclockwise direction about stub shaft 105, thus causing thepawl 1 15 to move the ratchet 116 in a clockwise direction. Theplanetary gear 137, being secured to the ratchet, rotates about and inmesh with the fixed gear 133 and the moveable gear 81. Each of thesegears is provided with a different number of gear teeth in order tocause relative motion of one with regard to the other. For example,fixed gear 133 may be provided with forty teeth while the rotatable gear81 is provided with thirty-nine teeth. The diametral pitch of thesegears as well as that of the planetary gear is the same so that thelatter gear will be in proper mesh with both the fixed and the moveablegears. It will be apparent that for every c'omplete revolution ofplanetary gear 137 about the fixed gear 133, the planetary gear willhave engaged forty teeth. In order to engage forty teeth of gear 81,this gear must rotate in a counterclockwise direction, opposite to thedirection of revolution of the planetary gear. Thus for each revolutionof the planetary gear, gear 81 will rotate a distance equal to onetooth. Shaft 76, as well as ribbon take-up spool 77, will rotate in thesame direction as gear 81 since the shaft is driven by this gear.

As the take-up spools 77 rotate, they wind the spent inking ribbon uponthem and cause the ribbon to be unwound from the spools 95 drawing itover the outer surface of the ribbon tube. The rotation of the take-upspools 77 results in the continuing renewal of inking ribbon 96 thusproviding a constant ink supply for the printing dies 45.

It will be noted that the inking ribbon, which is continually fed aboutthe inking tube, is wider than the dies 45. It is possible to greatlyextend the period between required changes of ribbon by employing a wideribbon and reciprocating the inking tube a distance substantially equalto its width. The structure of the ribbon tube reciprocating assemblywill be evident from a consideration of Figures 1, S and 6. Thisassembly is driven by a pitman 142 having a bearing 143, within which aneccentric 144 is journaled. The eccentric is secured to the die holdershaft 13 by a bolt 145 and a retaining Washer 146. As the eccentric 144rotates with the shaft 13, pitman 142 reciprocates. The pitman ispivotally secured by means of a pin 147 to a V-shaped pawl actuator 148which is mounted on pivot 149 secured to bracket 150 mounted on sideframe 9. A ratchet wheel 151 is also mounted upon pin 149 for rotationby means of pawl 152 pivoted at 153 to the pawl actuator 148 forengagement with the teeth of ratchet 151. One end of a driving rod 155is eccentrically journaled to the ratchet on pivot 154; the other end isin the form of a yoke 156 pivoted to a ribbon tube shaft thrust bushing157 by means of pins 158. It will be apparent that upon ro tation of theshaft 13 pitman 142 will reciprocate, thus translating motion to thepawl actuating arm. When the pitman moves upwardly, the pawl 152 ridesover the top of the teeth of ratchet 151 and when it moves downwardlythe pawl engages ratchet teeth rotating ratchet 151 in a clockwisedirection as viewed in Figure 5, thus causing the ribbon tube to bereciprocated in its bearings 7. A suitable stop-pawl 168 is secured tothe frame member and engages the teeth of ratchet 151 to prevent reverserotation.

As shown in Figures 1 and 3, we provide a delivery board 159 for ourconveyor. This is secured to the side plates 24 and is provided with aplurality of fingers or guides 160 mounted at positions correspondingwith v the locations of the sleeves 38 of each individual roller. Whilethese guides assist in assuring that individual aligned pockets such asthose indicated by the reference numeral 44 receive only a single fruit,they are not essential to the proper functioning of our conveyor unit.

In operation our printing machine is installed so that a conveyor belt,not shown, will feed lemons to the delivery board and so that dropboard161 secured adjacent the delivery end of the conveyor directs theprinted fruit to a receiving conveyor, a sizer or to other lemontreating apparatus. Upon operation of the motor 6, drive chain 15rotates the sprocket 17 on the shaft 14, thus rotating sprockets 27which drive the pair of chains 30 and move the upper run of conveyorrollers toward the printing drum. As these rollers progress they arecontacted by a roll actuating member 46, which causes each roller torotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 3. This rotationpermits the retention of but a single fruit within the individualpockets 44 defined by adjacent rollers 33. As previously noted, therotation and the particular shape of these rollers are responsible forthe orientation of the longitudinal axis of each fruit to a positionparallel to the axis of the rollers. In addition, the annular channel 42and the angled shoulders 43 result in the transverse alignment ofindividual lemons with the dies 45, thus presenting the most gentlyrounded surface of the lemon to the die for printing. The die holderdrum 4 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction in the illustrationsof Figures 2 and 3 by gear 21 which is driven by gear secured to theshaft 14. Each individual die 45 contacts the inking ribbon at a pointdiametrically opposed from the point of printing. The inking ribbon tubeis rotated in a clockwise direction, as seen in Figures 2 and 3, by gear23 driven by gear 22 secured to the die holder shaft 14 With eachrevolution of the inking ribbon tube 5, the cam roller 106 contacts cam126 to cause rotation of inking ribbon take-up spools 77 as previouslydescribed. This ribbon is rotated about the inking ribbon tube 71 in themanner shown in Figure 9. As the ribbon is wound upon spools 77, it isdrawn over the surface and unwound from the ribbon supply spool 95.

As the ribbon tube 71 rotates about its own axis and as the inkingribbon moves relative to the surface of said tube, the tube reciprocatesalong its longitudinal axis in the manner set forth bereinabove and asillustrated best in Figure 5.

A factor of further importance to be considered is the relationshipbetween the radii of gears 22 and 23. It will be seen that the radius ofgear wheel 22 is the same as the radius of the circle of rotation ofthedies 45, while the radius of gear 23 is the same as the radius 'ofthe inking ribbon tube 5. Since the peripheral velocities of gears 22and 23 and the peripheral velocity of the inking ribbon tube are thesame, there will be no relative velocity between the inking ribbon andthe dies 45. There will, as a result, be a lessened frictional contactbetween the dies 4-5 and the inking ribbon, thus preventing, as much aspossible, the wearing down of the inking ribbon and the dies. We havefound that relative velocity of the ribbon with respect to the dies canbe completely avoided adjusting the position of engagement of gears 22and 23 so that one of the dies has just passed its position of contactwith the ribbon when cam roller 106 strikes cam face 126-. Thus, ribbon96 will travel over the circumferential surface of the ribbon tube whenno I die is in contact with it.

While we have exemplified the novel inventive aspects of our printingmachine with reference to the problem of printing lemons, it will beapparent that our machine is equally adapted for the impression ofbrands upon other cross sectionally circular articles and specificallyoranges,

grapefruit, apples, potatoes, tomatoes, nuts, avocadoes and other fruitsand vegetables.

We claim:

A rotary inking ribbon tube comprising: a cylindrical casing having apair of circular end plates, said casing having a slotted section alonga portion of its circumference adjacent to each of said end plates; astub shaft secured interiorly to each of said end plates; a pawlactuating member pivoted on said stub shaft, said actuating memberhaving an actuating arm extending through said slotted section, said armbeing provided at its terminal end with a cam follower, said actuatingmember having a pawl; a gear fixedly secured to each of said end platesand having first and second journals; a ratchet rotatably mounted uponsaid first journal; a rotary gear having a number of teeth differingfrom the number of teeth on said fixed gear mounted upon said secondjournal; a planetary gear' rotatably secured to said ratchet, saidplanetary gear being in mesh with said fixed and said rotary gears; aribbon take up shaft detachably secured to said rotary gear andextending axially therefrom and supported for rotation upon bracketswithin said casing; a plurality of ribbon take up spools detachablysecured to said take up shaft at posi:

tions axially of said shaft; a plurality of ribbon supply spools eachadapted to support inking ribbons carried thereon mounted for rotationupon brackets secured to said casing, said ribbon supply spools havingtheir axes parallel to and spaced equidistantly from the axis of saidtake up shaft and being in transverse alignment withsaid ribbon take upspools, said ribbons extending fromsaid supply spools through axialslots provided in the circumference of said casing over the externalsurface of said casing and back through said slots to said ribbon takeup spools and a pair of cams mounted adjacent to but spaced radiallyfrom said end plates a distance sufficient to be contacted by the camfollower on said actuating arm and to deflect said pawl actuating memberwith each rotation of said ribbon tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS866,624 Collier Sept. 24, 1907 1,715,893 Bertinetti et al. June 4, 19292,537,397 Collender Jan. 9, 1951

